Fasted cardio
- Jody Slaney
- Jan 5, 2017
- 2 min read
Does fasted cardio help accelerate fat loss?
On paper this theory makes sense. However there are some issues.
Protein breakdown
Fat breakdown
Afterburn
Calories burned
Protein breakdown is something that we want to avoid. A priority should be to maintain muscle mass as this inceases the bodies ability to burn calories throughout the day when stationary. Fasted excercise has been cited in Strength and Conditioning journal to DOUBLE protein breakdown. In contradiction with this the British journal of nutrition showed fasted cardio burned 20% more fat.
Research showed that fat breakdown did occur at very low intensity during a two hour fasted walk, but the effect was minimal.
Fasted HIIT did break down fat much faster but breakdown will exceed your ability to utilize those free-ranging fatty acids. This means the fat was loaded right back into the cells without being burnt off.
Fasted cardio does NOT increase lipolysis (Fat burning process)
Eating prior to a workout has been seen to increase the ''afterburn'' in comparison to fasted cardio.
This is likely due to your body having more access to the fuel it needs to sustain a higher level of intensity through your workout.
Where does this leave us?
Well it boils down to a metter of preference. If you prefer to workout on an empty stomach then go for it but rememeber, eating wont hurt your gainz and while fasted cardio is not inherently bad for you, it probably isnt your best option when it comes to losing body fat.
The hard truth is that fat loss isnt a simple mechanism and multiple factors come into play such as diet, lifetstyle and metabolism etc. Each of these factors must be adjusted for individual circumstances. For example, fasted cardio will likely be more beneficial for someone in very low body fat groups wanting to hit stubborn areas (5-6% for men and 13-14% for women) However, fat loss will always come down to calories in versus calories out.
My personal preference is to exercise after in the afternoon after i have eaten at least an hour prior. I cant workout well with a full stomach though.
If i do go to the gym in the morning (because of work) it will be fasted but i WILL have an intra workout protein shake aswell as a post workout protein shake.
Jody Slaney
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